New Jet Boat Owner

[Funnynitts]

Hi guys, I'm new to the jet boat scene and just bought a 77 Omega 20" open bow. It has what I beleive to be a AMC 360 and Panther Jet Pump. The guy I bought the boat from said the motor overheats after running about 20-30 minutes. He said the thermostat was taken out due to thinking it was faulty however that did not solve anything.

I should also mention that this guy said it had a 454 in it and knew nothing about the boat. He did say he had it was in the ocean a few times, and that he had the engine cleaned out and rebuilt / Wether that is true or not I have no idea. He did start the boat to show that the motor was not seized up. (Only ran until the prime in the carb ran out maybe 3-5 seconds) I havent had it in the water yet due to I want to try and figure out the overheating issue.

Needless to say I have no idea where to even start, as this is my very first boat ever! The boat is in decent shape I will attach some pics. For $1000.00 I don't think I went wrong. I figured if the engine is bad I have a rebuilt 351 just waiting for a home.

Any suggestions on how to check the engine for water flow would be greatly appreciated.

Also - Is there a way to test the Panther pump out myself? and would I be able to install the 351 if I need a new motor? P.S the boat is just for some family fun, nothing extremely fast needed. Just want to do some skiing, tubing and fishing.

[Duane HTP]

Best way to find out your answers is to go to the lake, back it down on a cement ramp, leave it hooked to the trailer and run it for a while. If everything sounds and feels good, then take it out for a test drive. Stay close to the trailer at first until you know it is seaworthy. Good luck!
Duane HTP

[thompy]

i would flush out the block in case its full of sand, and dont run the pump out of the water, nice looking boat should clean up nice

[weshigh94]

hello and welcome! i just recently got the jet boat bug with a 77 wriedt spoiler with a 455 olds. bout ur problem with the engine it could be blockage in the cooling system or busted head gaskets. the boats looks great. keep posting them pics!

[Bies]

Get that d-m foam edelbrock air cleaner off, it's not a flame arrestor and with that Holley one back fire which is very likely the foam melts real nice. It's a $250.00 fine around hear let alone dangerous. But congrats on the boat.

[Funnynitts]

Thanks everyone for welcoming me and your advise. I will follow all of it! I'm not sure about the fine in Cali yet, but I surly don't want any fires or melting.

I plan on getting the boat to the lake in about 2 weeks. This should give me some time to flush the motor and do some more research.

Thanks again!

[Bies]

You guys are great, lots of history. I have copied and pasted all these comments and pictures, makes quite a document. Anything else is greatly appreciated. What a topic!

[Funnynitts]

Well I finally got some time to work on the boat. I began with taking the Thermostat housing off and loa and behold there was a Thermostat! It was full of crapand there is no way that thing was operable. I did a flush on the motor for about 15 minutes and then flushed the manifold at the thermostat trying to clear all the debris inside. I installed a new Thermostat and did some other tinkering.

All I need now is a set of plug wires and battery and I'm ready to hit the water. Hopefully the Thermostat was all it needed to solve the overheating issue.

[thompy]

good to hear it was a simple fix